'Southern Charm' 's Naomie Olindo Had to 'Beg' to Get Back on the Show After Split from Ex Metul Shah

Naomie Olindo didn't have the easiest return to Southern Charm.

Olindo, 29, previously left the Bravo hit after season 6 in 2020 to move to New York with now-ex Metul Shah. After the pair's split, she eventually returned for the show's eighth season, which is currently filming, but getting back on Southern Charm was no easy feat.

"I had to, like, beg my way back," Olindo said on Dear Media's Skinny Confidential Him & Her podcast. "I was like, 'Guys, please. I know I quit and I know I told everybody to f--- off, but please I'm very depressed and I really want to come back. I don't know what I'm going to do if I'm back in Charleston.' They were like, 'All right.' "

Asked whether Olindo left the show solely for Shah, 30, or for other personal reasons, the reality star said: "It was a half and half."

"Nobody can have a healthy relationship while filming a reality show with somebody that doesn't film and he wasn't going to film because he's a doctor. Those two things don't really go hand in hand," she continued.

"He was a resident and he needed to apply for fellowships. So a lot of things played into that, but I was totally willing to give up the show for what I thought to be a healthy and loving relationship because that's what I would prioritize over a reality show, obviously. So I had no problem doing that," she explained.

Added Olindo, "When it ended up not being a healthy and loving relationship, I was like, 'Okay, well I'm single.' The show opens doors for so many opportunities business-wise and stuff."

Olindo said she didn't "really have a problem" sharing what went down with the breakup, especially because "everybody already knows what happened."

PEOPLE revealed in July 2021 that Olindo and Shah broke up after nearly three years together. News of their separation came amid rumors that Shah had cheated.

On Monday's podcast, Olindo said the allegations were "already out there" before she "had time to wrap my brain around it."

"I had no idea. I was still trying to process what had just happened that, you know, infidelity is the thief of reality," she said. "So I was like, what is my life? What am I doing? What have I been doing? Who is this questioning my judgment? You know, how did I not see all this? And yeah, everybody knew. And then people are commenting on the situation and people were ... cruel to him."

"I felt bad for him again. And I was like, 'Guys, please stop being mean to him. This is not the answer,' " she said, adding that she defended Shah despite him doing "the worst thing you can do to somebody that trusts you."

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Going forward, Olindo said she "would never give so much to somebody that reciprocated nothing in return." She said she used to "rationalize" this behavior from Shah by "giving more" to him.

"He would just take and take and take. I'm not just talking financially, I'm talking emotionally or even a small thing, like cooking dinner," she said. "He never one time cooked me a meal in three-and-a-half years. Not one."

But Olindo did acknowledge how Shah was there for her when her father was ill, which was "really important" to her.

When Olindo previously broke her silence on the split, she opened up about the feeling of "betrayal."

"Nothing will be worse than losing my dad but this is a close second," she wrote on her Instagram Story at the time. "Betrayal is never easy for anyone and I'm just so sorry to anyone else who has stumbled across those terrible messages."

Olindo concluded her post, "I'm absolutely positive I will regret posting this tomorrow but so many of you have reached out saying you're feeling a similar pain. I'm so so sorry."